Vacuum-jacketed milk-can.



ST. VRAIN LE SIEUR. VACUUM JAGKETED MILK 'GAN. APPLICATION EILED SEPT. a, 1911. RENEWED MAY 13. 1913. 1,084,453.

Patented Jan. 13-, 19 14.

UNITED STATES PATENT ornemn.-

s'r. vnnm LE SIIEUR, or EAST sr.

LOUIS, ILLINQIS, ASSIG-NOR TO THE LE SIEUB VACUUM CAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS, A

conrona'rron or ILLINOIS.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Jan. 13, 1914.

Application filed September 5, 1911, Serial No. 647,719. Renewed 11215718, 1913. Serial No. 767,435.

To all whom. it may concern Be it known that 1, ST. VRAIN LE SIEUR, a citizen of the United States, and resident of East St. Louis, Illinois, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Vacuum-Jacketed Milk-Cans, of which the following is a specification containing a full,

clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to improvements in vacuum milk-cans, and it consists in the novel construction and combination of parts appended claims. The object ofmy invention is to provide an improved vacuum milk-can for use in shipping and storing. milk and cream and preserving the contents against fermentation and other deleterious efl'ects caused by heat.

A further object is to provide a vacuum milk-can which will be strong, durable, and cheap in construction, and which will be highly eflicient and convenient in operation.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the milk-can having my inventionapplied thereto; Fig. 2 is a sectional detail plan view of the parts of the can, the section being taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the needle valve and its rotecting cover, used in exhausting and seahng the vacuum space of the can; and 4 is an enlarged hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the perspective view of the crossed wooden brace radiation of heat from the external can to the internal can, invention I have carefully insulated the inner can, so that it will have no metallic connection whatever with the external can, except at the upperend of the can-neclm. The outer can 1 is made of strong sheet metal, of which shipping milk-cans are commonly constructed. The bottom of the inner can 2 rests directl upon and is supported b the'crossed woo en bars 4, the outer end:

. outer can 1 by means of rivets 10 between the cans.

, drical body and in carrying out my of which are each provided with anlupturned integral block 5., which projects up-- wardly into the space between .the cans 1 and 2. The crossed bars 4 in turn rest directly upon the bottom 6 of the outer can. Sa1d bars 4 act to prevent the bottoms of the two cans 'from being forced together by the external air pressure-when the air is exhausted from the said space 3 between theof wood or other non-- cans. Spacing blocks conducting material :7, are located in the vacuum space 3 at the junction of the breasts 8 and 9 and said spacing blocks are secured to the passed through the outer can into said blocks, the heads of said rivets being sealed by means of solder in the usual manner, to prevent entrance of air to the vacuum space All the joints and seams of the outer and soldered or sweated together as usual. Rivets '10 are also passed through the walls of the outer can into the ends of the crossed wooden bars 4. The upper ends of the necks 11 and 12 of the inner and outer cans are held apart by a ring 13 of wood or similar nonconducting material, and upon the upper edge of said ring is placed a body of cement or common sealing wax 14, and then the upper ends of said neck are bent into a horizontal position, one above the other, and the overlapping horizontal metallic parts 15 and 16 are soldered together, to make a very tight joint, as well as a upper end of said necks.

The can may be provided with any of the common forms of handles now in general use.

17, which preferably has a hollow cylin- 18, which projects downwardly within the neck of the inner can to a point approximately even with the plane of the lower edge of the said wood ring 13. A flange 17 depending from the outer edge of the cover 17 engages a strengthening ring 19, which extends downwardly a considerable distance upon the neck of the outer can, and a gasket or packing ring 20 of which are inner cans are, of course,-

strong joint at the The can is provided with a lid or cover with their respective can-bodies,

suitable material is interposed between the cover 17 and the overlapping metallic parts 15 and 1 6 at the upper end of the cannecks. The said strengthening ring 19 is, by means of solder or the like, fixed upon the neck of the'outer can.

The means for clamping the cover in position I will now proceed to describe, as follows: 21 indicates opposite perforated ears projecting from the outer periphery of the cover 17 and depending fromthe perforations in said ears are common links 22, the lower ends of which carry the clamping levers 23. Fixed on the outer surface ofthe breast of the outer can, by means of solder or any othersuitable fastening means, are the clamping brackets 24, the opposite ends of which are provided with out-turned portions 25 and 26. The out-turned portion 25 of said brackets 24 lie in a horizontal plane so that the inner endsof the locking levers 23 ma engage beneath said horizontal outturne portion 25 and forcibly clamp the cover in position upon the can when the said locking levers 23 are thrown downwardly. The lower ends of said lockin levers 23 are provided with an inturned rig t angled portion 27 which is perforated for the reception ofa common sealing device 28, which latter is tobe' passed through the perforation in said inturned portion 27- of said levers, and also. through a registering aperture formed in the adjacent out-turnedportion of the clampingbrackets, for the pur pose of sealing the can whenever requlred, or for the purpose ofglocking the can by means of co mon pad-locks.

29 indicates-a common needle-valve casing which is'provided with the usual needles valve 30, the outer end of which is adapted to be engaged by a common wrench or key,

for thepurpose of opening or closing said needle-valve, in the operation of exhausting the air from the, vacuum chamber 3; Sai needle valve casing 29 is fixed upon the breast of the outer can 1, preferably at a point just below one of the clampin brackets 24, and one end of said 'needle-va lve casing 29 is adapted to have connected to it in the usual way a hose, (not shown) leading from' any suitable vacuum pump or exhauster, to e'xhaustthe air from the said space 3, between the inner andouter cans.

The said needle-valve casing 29 is secured by means of a body of solder 31, or of any other known fastening means to the outer can 1, so that the air passage of said needlevalve casing is in communication with a perforation 32 formed in the breast of the outer can.

33 indicates a cup of metal which is soltiered-over and incloses the needle-valve case ing,' for.the purpose of protecting the same? from injury. Said protecting cup 33 is preferablyimperforate so'that.v the said needlevalve will be sealed thereunder to prevent tampering with the saidneedle-valve; but if.

desired. and as shown in Fig. 3, the said prothe neck of the can down through the breast stead of a direct-opening needle-valve. With tecting cup may be provided with an aperture 34 for the passage of the hose to the needle-valve casing, and said cup may likewise be provided with another aperture 35 for the insertion of a suitable wrench or key in opening or closing the needle-valve'30.

The operation of my invention-is obvious and need not be described further in detail, except to say that milk placed within the inner can, at a lower temperature than the external atmosphere, will retain its temperature with but slight variation for a considerable period, sincethe space 3 presents a guard orlprotecting medium of an indifierent heat conducting quality.

Milk cans constructed as described will be specially valuable in transportation, as they will serve to keep the milk in a fresh and cool condition throughout and after the period of transit. The wood ring 13 greatly strengthens the neck of the can, while the wood blocks 7 strengthen the can at the shoulder, which latter is the point most liable to damage in transportation. The crossedwood bars 4 and their end blocks 5 greatly strengthen the lower end of the can.

The said clamping brackets 24 act as braces. for the neck and breast of the outer can, extending as they do downwardly a considerable distance upon the breast of the can. This manner of bracing the breast is a very important, feature, as statistics show that the destruction of ninety per. cent. of the milk cans during use has been causedvby forcing of the can. By the present mode of shipping milk cans they are stacked one upon another until the weight of several cans rests upon the neck and breast of the lowermost can.

The herein described needle-valve casing 29 has no check valve therein, and there is nothing upon the interior of said casing to obstruct the free passage of air therethrough, except the needle-valve 30 itself. In this manner I provide a direct-opening valve devoid of anything in the nature of an automatic check valve.

The air valve for vacuum milk cans, constructed and used as shown and described herein, has never before been used upon vacuum milk cans, all previous attempts to produce a vacuum upon any vessel made of metal having been a failure, owing to the fact that a check valve has been used, in-

a check valve it is impossible to produce .30 inches of vacuum, owing to the fact that the check valve greatly obstructs the passage of air being drawn out of the vessel.

What I claim is:

v 1. The improved-milk can, com rising the outerand inner cans separated y a space from which the air is to be exhausted, the said cans each having necks, a wood ring fixed in the space between said necks, a body 130 of cement'also in said space on theupper face of the said wood :ring, and a metallic portion located over said body of cement and 5 tion with crossed wood bars in cans.

2. The improved vacuum milk can, comprising outer and inner cans s 10 space from which the air is to crossed bracing bars located in parated by a be exhausted, the space between the bottoms'of the inner and .outer cans, and spacing-blocks vatthe outer ends of said, crossed bars, said blocks being formed integral with said crossed bars.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' ST. VRAIN LE SIEUR. Witnesses:

J. R. FRAME, JOHN (J.- HIGDON. 

